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Pedagogical Approach

Forest School

Named Pedagogical Models and Movements

Forest school is an outdoor, nature-based approach to early-childhood and primary education in which children spend most or all of the school day outdoors in a woodland or natural setting, engaging in child-led play, risk-taking activities such as tool use and fire-lighting, and repeated seasonal visits to the same site over an extended period. It traces to the Scandinavian skogsmulle and Waldkindergarten, or forest kindergarten, traditions of the mid-twentieth century, was formalized as forest school in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, and has since spread internationally.

Facts
Central Question
Can regular, hands-on learning in a woodland environment give children, young people and adults the opportunity to achieve and develop confidence 1
Most Effective For
Children with additional support needs, including those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autistic children, who forest schools have been found to help 1
Classification
Education Level
Early Childhood Education (ISCED 0) 1
Sources
1. Forest school (learning style) - Wikipedia
  • Lead definition
    an inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve and develop confidence through hands-on learning in a woodland environment.
  • Supporting exceptional children section
    forest schools have been found to help children with additional support needs, including Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and autistic children.
  • Description, education-level classification
    It traces to the Scandinavian skogsmulle and Waldkindergarten, or forest kindergarten, traditions of the mid-twentieth century, was formalized as forest school in the United Kingdom in the 1990s, and has since spread internationally.
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